Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard looks at a subject close to her heart and field of study in her latest documentary, Singing Back the Buffalo, with mixed results. A filmmaker normally known for capturing the passion and advocacy behind her subjects with the likes of Birth of a Family and nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, Hubbard’s latest is curiously distant and clinical in spite of subject matter that speaks directly to a history of indigenous trauma throughout the Great Plains of North America and recovering slowly from capitalist exploitation.
By the early 1900s, buffalo had been all but eradicated from the plains through overhunting and harvesting for their fur. A major part of indigenous history and commerce, this disappearance was a major blow for over a century. In 2014, eight indigenous nations signed a treaty designed to repopulate buffalo to the area, and the movement continues to grow and gain momentum despite the arrival of new diseases that could impact the animals and convoluted importing and quarantining measures.
Singing Back the Buffalo succeeds at showing exactly what it means to be a keeper of the land and all that dwell upon it, and Hubbard’s film is at its absolute best when it speaks to honouring sacrifice and paying witness to tragedy. But for a film that speaks directly to major injustices and repression, the tone of Singing Back the Buffalo is unnervingly robotic and dispassionate. Hubbard’s pervasive narration is static, and in the vein of something that’s more at home in a museum, classroom, or town meeting than in a wider ranging documentary. The overlong length of the film also leads to a distinct feeling of repetition and lack or progression. There’s a major discussion that should be had about the topics at play in Singing Back the Buffalo, but the film itself would be better with some condensing and a tonal shift to something with a bit more fire behind it.
Friday, April 26, 2024 – 5:30 pm – TIFF Lightbox 1
Monday, April 29, 2024 – 12:00 pm – TIFF Lightbox 2
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